Late on Monday night, it was confirmed that Nathan Tyson had left the Rams after two years at the club – leaving to join fellow Championship side Blackpool on a free transfer, where he’s joined up with fellow ex-Ram Steve Davies.

His exit is a curious one. Tyson claims he wanted to stay and wasn’t told directly about the club’s decision to place him on the transfer list, however manager Nigel Clough talks differently on the matter. Listen to them both in a report on BBC Sport.

Brining Nathan to the club was a gamble for Nigel. Big wages, a switch across the A52 from the old enemy and history with Derby and a certain event involving a flag.

After a difficult first campaign at the club, largely hampered by injuries, the former Red began last season with a bang – he scored two from the opening two matches. There was also a late winner at Ipswich from the bench followed by two further goals as a sub, proving his abilities as an impact player from the bench.

After the run of two from two, he struggled to maintain a spot in the starting eleven – of the next eighteen matches, he was a substitute on sixteen occasions (only one of the remaining two was a start). This was largely down to the signing of Conor Sammon.

In total, the striker managed to score five goals in seventeen matches (only five of which were starts).

I can’t deny that he isn’t injury prone but I feel that he’s one hell of an option from the bench (you could argue that it’s not enough when he’s on big money). I do believe he deserved more opportunities last season. The ex-Royals attacker had just managed to find his feet and started producing the goods, only to be dropped. The loan spell, which Tyson requested for after persistently being overlooked, at Millwall didn’t benefit any party.

Nevertheless, the fact is he has left but I, probably in unison with many others, am curious about his departure and have filed it along with other similar cases, baring similarities to the cases of Chris Maguire, Dean Leacock and Miles Addison. It’s clear that his last start, which came at Charlton, proved to be a poor game but it was just ONE game.

Is he happy to be at the current league leaders? Of course!

Total Rams stats

Appearances (including those as a substitute): 41

Goals: 5

Goodbye and good luck (needless to say, except against the Rams), Nathan (no, not me, the other one).

2 Responses to The curious case of Nathan Tyson

Chris Maguire, now at Sheffield Wendy, not getting much game time: Dean Leacock plying his trade at Notts County; Miles Addison not getting many starts for Bournemouth these days. I wouldn’t say that any of them have gone on to bigger and better things. Would you want any of them back? Let’s see who finishes higher between Derby and Blackpool and how much game time Tyson gets there before injury strikes. Maybe you have a soft spot for Tyson because of his name?